Malango questions Ansah’s absence from Cabinet chair

Dedza Kasina, Member of Parliament, Joshua Malango, questioned why First Vice-President Jane Ansah did not chair a Cabinet meeting in Lilongwe, despite claims that she was available, and asked the government to explain the legal basis for the arrangement.

Malango raised the matter under Standing Order 69, seeking clarification from the Minister of Justice on why Second Vice-President Enoch Chihana chaired the meeting after President Peter Mutharika travelled to Blantyre.

Chief Secretary to Government Justin Saidi, however, said the President had the prerogative to assign either of the two vice-presidents to chair a Cabinet meeting.

“The law allows the President to delegate the Second Vice President. It also allows the President to delegate the First Vice President,” Saidi said.

Saidi was responding to questions after reports emerged that Chihana was presiding over the Cabinet meeting while Ansah was also in Lilongwe.

Asked why Ansah was not attending the meeting, Saidi said he was not aware of the circumstances.“I do not know anything on that. Check with her office,” he said.

Malango questioned the arrangement in Parliament, asking why Ansah, who was elected together with the President, did not chair the meeting.

“Why is the Vice-President, who was elected together with the President, not chairing the meeting?” he asked.He also asked the Minister of Justice to explain the legal or constitutional basis for Chihana presiding over the meeting.

The government had earlier indicated that Mutharika delegated Chihana to chair the Cabinet meeting in Lilongwe while he attended to other government duties in Blantyre.

The arrangement was said to be in line with Section 92(3) of the Constitution, which provides for Cabinet meetings to be presided over by the President, the First Vice-President in the President’s temporary absence, or the Second Vice-President when both the President and First Vice-President are unavailable.

Speaker of the National Assembly Sameer Suleman, however, said the matter was largely an internal government issue and advised Malango to follow the appropriate parliamentary procedures.

“Otherwise, the issue that you’re raising now is an in-house government issue. Government is a machinery; it knows what it’s doing and we just have to work with what government is doing,” Suleman said.